Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/562

530 that body. He was nominated in 1873 by the Re- publican party as their candidate for the office of attorney-general of New York, but failed of elec- tion. The degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by Columbia in IK?:!, and by Yale in 1874. Dur- ing his career in the state legislature he introduced the charter of Greenwood cemetery, and he is a trustee of that corporation. He has long been con- nected with the Long Island historical society, of which he is a director, and for more than twenty years he has been president of the Brooklyn club. Mr. Silliman was pre>idi j nt nf the New England society of Brooklyn from its beginning until 1876, when he declined a re-election, and is president of the Yale alumni association of Long Island. He was one of the founders of the Xew York bar as- sociation, one of its vice-presidents, and a trustee of various charitable and benevolent associations. Benjamin Douglas's brother, Augustus Ely, financier, b. in Xewport. R. I., 11 April, 1807; d. in Brooklyn. N. Y., 30 May, 1884, early entered commercial life and became connected with the Merchants' bank of New York. He was its presi- dent from 1857 until 1868, when failing health com- pelled his retirement from active business. He took part in the establishment of the Clearing house association in 1 *">!. and was one of the com- mittee that during the first six years of its exist- ence directed its proceedings. Mr. Silliman was a member of the Long Island historical society, and was in 1840-'! president of the Xew York mercantile library association. He published " A (iallup among American Scenery, or Sketches of American Scenes and Military Adventure " (New York, 1843; enlarged ed., 1881), and translated from the French " Fenelon's Conversations with M. de Ramsai on the Truth of Religion, with his Letters on the Immortality of the Soul and the Freedom of the Will " (1869). In honor of the memory of his mother he bequeathed to Yale uni- versity nearly 100.000 for the foundation of an an- nual seriesof lectures in that university," the general tendency of which may be such as will illustrate the presence and wisdom of God as manifested in the natural and moral world."

SILLIMAN, Justus Mitchell, mining engineer b. in New Canaan, Conn.. 25 Jan., 1842 : d. in Eas- ton, Pa., 15 April, 1896. He studied at New Canaan academy, enlisted at the beginning of the civil war, and served for three years, being wounded at Gettys- burg. At the close of the war he settled in Troy, N. Y., where he taught in an academy, and was graduated at Rensselaer polytechnic institute in 1870 with the degree of M. E. In September of that year he was called to the charge of the department of mining engineering and graphics in Lafayette college, which place he held till 1896. Prof. Silli- man invented an instrument for orthographic, clinographic, and crystallographic projection, also a water manometer and anemometer. He was a fel- low of the American association for the advance- ment of science and a member of the American in- stitute of mining engineers, and has been president of the Lehigh valley microscopical society. His special work included various investigations, of which his examination of the Bessemer flame with colored glasses, and the spectroscope is the best professional papeiiiman's writings wr nline.1 to transact ions of soci^hat have been published in the

SILLOWAY, Thomas William, architect, b. in Newbury Mass. of which he wa> a member. espt, 7 Aug., 18'-'S. lie received a good education, and devoted himself tcially in the arts of .le.-iun. tectural plans for publo the preparation of an 1.1 ic buildings, in which business he established himself at Boston, Mass., in 1851. In the course of the next twenty years more than 300 church edifices were built or repaired under his superintendence, besides other public buildings, including the capitol at Montpelier. Vt. (1857), the Soldiers' monument at Cambridge. Mass. (1870), and Buchtel college, Akron, Ohio (1872). After the earthquake in Charleston, S. C., in 1886, he was called to that city professionally and re- stored six of the church edifices that had been partially destroyed. In 1852 he began to preach to Llniversalist congregations, and in 1862 he was ordained a clergyman of that faith. He has pub- lished " Theogonis, a Lamp in the Cavern of Evil " (Boston, 1856); "Text-Book of Modern Carpen- try "(1858); "Warming and Ventilation " (1860); " Atkinson Memorial,"' a series of eighteen dis- courses (1861) ; " The Conference Melodist " (1863) ; "Cantica Sacra " (1865) ; "Service of the Church of the Redeemer," at Brighton, Mass. (1867) ; and, with Lee L. Powers, " Cathedral Towns of Eng- land, Ireland, and Scotland " (1883). He edited, with George M. Harding, an improved edition of Shaw's " Civil Architecture " (1852).

SILSBEE, Joshua S., actor, b. in Litchfield, Conn., 4 Jan., 1815; d. in San Francisco, Cal., 22 Dec., 1855. He made his first appearance on the stage at Natchez. Miss., in the winter of 1837. and afterward played Jonathan Ploughboy in " Forest Rose " at the Walnut street theatre, Philadelphia, in 1841. He appeared as a star soon afterward in Boston. Going to England in 1851, he was the first comedian to introduce Yankee characters on the stage in that country, opening at the Adelphi, London, in his favorite part of Jonathan Plough- boy. During his residence in England. Tom Tay- lor, the dramatic author, is said to have written for him the play that afterward became famous as "The American Cousin," though it is doubtful whether he ever appeared in it. After his death his widow brought the piece to the United States and sold it to Laura Keene. Soon afterward John Sleeper Clark brought out the play in Philadelphia, and from the disputed ownership arose a long copyright lawsuit. Laura Keene subsequently sold, or gave, her copy to Edward A. Snthern. The Yankee part was thus probably first played not by Silsbee, but by Joseph Jefferson, under Miss Keene's management.

SILSBEE,' Nathaniel, senator, 'b. in Essex county, Mass., in 1773; d. in Salem, Mass., 1 July, 1850. His father, Nathaniel, was a shipmaster in Salem. The son engaged in mercantile pursuits, and amassed a fortune. He served Ircijiicnily in each branch of the Massachusetts legislature, and was elected to congress as a Democrat, sen ing from 1 Dec., 1817, till 3 March. 1821. He then declined a renomination. He was in the state sen- ate in 1823-'6,and was elected and re-elected to the U. S. senate, hoMinir the seat from 4 Dec.. Ix'H. till 3 Mareh. I >::.